NEPAL: Nepal's political parties urged people yesterday to stop paying taxes and international donors to halt aid to the royalist government as an anti-monarchy campaign widened dramatically.
Police lobbed dozens of tear gas shells and fired rubber bullets at protesters demanding King Gyanendra give up power, injuring several and arresting dozens.
Protests erupted for the first time in Kathmandu's Thamel tourist district and by dusk many streets of the capital were littered with stones and the ashes of burnt tyres.
In what could be a sign of mounting pressure, the US and Indian ambassadors met the king yesterday, the two embassies said. They did not give details, but both countries have criticised the crackdown on the pro-democracy campaign and urged the king to quickly resolve the situation.
"We will burn the crown and run the country," youths shouted, dancing around a bonfire in Thamel. "Death to the government."
The district is a sprawling maze of alleys in the centre of the capital, full of backpacker hotels, bars, curio shops and trekking and travel agencies.
Many vehicles were off the street on the 11th day of a general strike called by political parties demanding restoration of democracy.
In the Balakhu district, thousands of protesters battled police with stones, as police lobbed tear gas shells and fired several rounds of rubber bullets.
King Gyanendra sacked the government and assumed full power in February 2005. The seven-party political alliance, which has been opposing him since then, launched a general strike on April 6th, bringing the nation to a standstill.
At least four people have been killed and hundreds wounded in police firing and baton charges on demonstrators in the past 11 days. But neither side looks likely to back down.
The king has offered to hold elections within a year, but activists say he is not to be trusted and should immediately hand over power to an all-party government.
Yesterday, the parties upped the stakes. "We ask taxpayers not to pay any tax to the government, civil servants to disobey orders and security forces to take off their uniforms and join the people," said Krishna Prasad Sitaula of the Nepali Congress, the country's biggest political party.
A statement issued by the alliance also asked international donors to stop sending funds to the government.